anacapa island

Two weekends ago we went to Anacapa Island. Since Marius was kind enough to create low res pics of his favorite photos, that is what you'll get to see.

We woke up at an incredibly early hour to pick up Thuy and Jaeson and drive to the ferry on time. They claimed we needed to be there an hour before departure although we sat in line for 15-20 minutes and then waited another 20 minutes or so before we could load our gear onto the boat (grumble, grumble, lucky that we stopped for coffee on the way down, grumble, grumble).














It was a bit foggy but the sun came out in time for a little snorkeling the first afternoon.



















Now, if I had selected the photos you'd be seeing a great shot of Marius and Jaeson in their wet suits (Jaeson's had lovely neon accents reminiscent of the 80's), but alas, Marius picked the photos so you only get one of me coming out of the water but grinning like a maniac.

The water is very clear around the islands and so you can see the kelp forests and fish really well. The only odd thing is that there is something that makes a crackling noise in your ear when your head is under water. Even the park ranger could only guess at what caused it even though everyone hears it. His suggestions were the waves moving sand and rocks against the rocky walls of the harbor in which we were swimming. Apparently shrimp can also make that sound but there aren't any shrimp like that around Anacapa.

Okay, the other odd thing is that we were swimming in May in the Pacific Ocean. Despite the wet suits, it was still cold (and not in the "oh, it's just brisk/refreshing/insert your favorite euphemism here sort of way; it was the "oh my god my head hurts" sort of cold). The only reason I managed to forget was because of the nice view. Next time we visit an island where we can swim, we'll bring the underwater case for our camera to show you.






















However, the really nice thing about visiting the island in May is that the seagulls were all nesting. I don't mean a few nests here and there. Imagine every seagull you've ever seen in Santa Barbara or Goleta all on 3 acres of rock out in the middle of the ocean. That is what we saw (and smelled!). Fortunately seagull chicks are absurdly cute (although you can't see from the photo Marius selected -check Thuy's blog as I'm sure she'll have better shots and if not, I'll dig up a few to add later this week). They're small and fluffy (go figure) like most baby birds but they are brown with black spots all over. It's the sort of sight that makes you go "awwww" to the point where you make your self ill. It's just too much cuteness to handle and most folks are reduced to gibbering nonsense and taking thousands of identical photos of every chick they see.

Okay, maybe it was just me.














The only thing to break up the cuteness are the parents. They first start interacting with you by barking like dogs (small dogs, but dogs just the same). If you don' t leave their vicinity after the barking they might move toward you on the ground. If that doesn't work, they then take to the air and begin to dive bomb you. When we were on the boat on the way over, we were warned to hold up one hand if attacked by a seagull so that they wouldn't go for our heads (aren't you just feeling warm and fuzzy about them now?), but being hit by an angry seagull parent isn't the worst thing that they do to you. When they dive bomb their victims, they are actually trying to figure out the right moment to bombard you. You might ask, what does a seagull have with which to bombard you? Well, they certainly aren't picking up things to drop on you. Use your imagination.

The only thing to be grateful for is that at least they don't regurgitate on you. I think that could potentially be worse... or not.

Dye Day!!!

This past weekend I went down to Hollywood for a dye day put on by the L.A. F.A.G. (stop giggling, it stands for Fiber Arts Guild -do you really think LA has only one gay man?). The location was a beautiful arts and crafts "cottage" (if a REALLY big house can be called a cottage) with a wonderful back yard and patio area (see the photo above of everyone in action). There were probably over 50 people there over the course of the day with great food and several shops taking over various rooms of the house to do a little business (in case you ran out of your own fiber to dye).

It was so much fun! The members of the guild are great (a couple of us even converted a very creative guy to starting his own instructional blog, I can't wait to see it!) and were very welcoming. We spent the entire day talking, trying out different dyes including everything from Cushing's Acid Dyes to natural dyes to my new favorite way, earth hues natural dye extracts (they're as easy, if not easier, than chemical dyes with the results of natural dyes). Below is a hot pour dye (clown pot) that my dye buddy (twisted) Ruth set up. I threw quite a bit of gray wool into this pot and it came out wonderfully. You fill the pot with water and vinegar, slowly pour the dye on top and then very slowly bring the pot up to the temperature needed for the dye to strike (without poking it Ruth! :) ). That allows the dye to move down through all of the fiber in the pot before it strikes.















Here are some samples drying on the fence of what everyone did and some of the dye pots we had going. You'll notice there was a lot of blue. We had an instant indigo pot going all day and several acid dyes in various blues going but the colors were more diverse than what's drying here.















Speaking of which, below is more gray wool I dust dyed. This is where you mix acid dyes with corn starch and sprinkle it on fiber that is packed in a tray filled with water and acid. You then heat it until the dye exhausts. I'm not a huge fan of pink but we were worried that the gray would hide more subtle colors. Apparently it wasn't an issue!

Granite Mountains

I have a bit of catching up to do so I'll start with last weekend (ie. not the past couple of days but a week ago). I went with the Plant Physiological Ecology class on their field trip to the UC reserve in the Granite Mountains. My boss teaches the class and so I got to tag along to "help" the students (oh yeah, six students, their professor, a TA and me; they really needed my "help"). Below are photos of the group and a shot of Bruce (my boss) hidden by one of our favorite shrubs, Larrea tridentata (creosote bush). It's one of our favorite because we both spend quality time with it in our research. It produces toxins that may help it to establish a territory belowground that is relatively free of neighbors' roots.





































The property is on a 100 year lease originally obtained by a geologist and his brother (both faculty at UofC schools) and it turns out that the geologist's wife is a long time member of one of my spinning groups. If you think your world is small, wait until you move to Santa Barbara -it shrinks even more. It's located in the Mojave Desert about two hours past Barstow depending on traffic.

I had a great time although we experienced a cold snap of the likes that I've never experienced in a desert (and I know my deserts -or at least know when to expect them to be cold and that wouldn't include the month of May, regardless of hemisphere!). The students were completely unprepared as some didn't even realize how cold it can be at night when the weather is seasonal and I found myself trying to decide if the one guy (who looks like he played defense in high school football) could fit into my baggy but not huge windbreaker.

Some fauna and flora of the area: a fringe toed lizard (endangered), and coyote melon.

Fortunately, as I wasn't really responsible for anything or anyone on the trip, I got to run away and have fun hiking while students collected data. Both hikes I did were wonderful. I walked up to the top of the mountains located next to the field station for a wonderful view and walked around the mountain and up the neighboring canyon. Of course my camera batteries were dead by the time I went out so the photos are all from the first day and a half. The hikes did result in one of those events that does seem to happen to me whenever I leave home (have I mentioned I got stuck in an elevator by myself in London this spring?).


another shot of the beloved larrea













So my boss tells me that I would really enjoy the next canyon over and shows me the route on a map. I tell him I'm leaving to go on the hike and that I'll be back in a couple of hours. The students were supposed to give presentations on data they had collected in 2-3 hours (which normally mean that they'll start in 4 if we're lucky) and I had to be back in time for those. The hike was fantastic. I took the exact route my boss pointed out (I don't like hiking alone unless people know where to look for me when I don't come back), and started back a little late so that I was approaching the field station a little over three hours later. I look across the desert and see the university van (used to drag the students out to the site) driving slowly along another road in the distance and figure they're off doing something fun. Then the van stops and someone gets out so I figure that I'll walk over and see what they're up to before I go back to the house. As I get closer, I hear someone calling.

It turns out to be the TA for the course. Folks got a little concerned when I wasn't back in two hours (not that you could make it to the end of the neighboring canyon and back in two hours but you never know...) and so this guy kindly offers to go find me. Of course, no one bothered to tell him the route I was taking and so he's off down a road with very deep and loose sand.

I mention this because once I found him and he explained everything, he then explained that he had gotten the van stuck in the sand.

We spent the next hour trying to get it out but failing spectacularly. So we decide to go get the rest of the group to help (and to let them know that I was not lost in the desert with a rattlesnake firmly attached to an extremity). It took the entire group another 30 minutes or so to get the van out. Don't you just love science?

The last shot is of a cholla in bloom. I'll post more soon including shots from this past weekend (a big dye day down in Hollywood and hiking with two of my favorite people).